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South Asia Investor Review is focused on reporting, analyzing and discussing the economy and the financial markets of countries in South Asia, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. For investors looking to invest in emerging markets beyond BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), this blog is designed to help international investors looking to learn about investing in South Asia with focus on Pakistan. Riaz has another blog called Haq's Musings at http://www.riazhaq.com

Pakistan Well Ahead of India in Clean Energy Use

As the Copenhagen climate change summit gets underway, India is facing the reality of being a major polluter in the world mainly because of extensive use of coal as source of energy for its economy. Pakistan, on other hand, relies more heavily on natural gas for energy and uses very little coal, in spite of having large deposits of it in Sind province. South Asia is among the regions that will be most heavily affected by climate change.

At 8 feet below sea level, Pakistan's financial capital Karachi shows up on the list of world's mega-cities threatened by global warming. Other South Asian cities likely to come under rising sea water in the next 100 years include Mumbai, Kolkata and Dhaka.

However, it's not just the big cities in South Asia that will feel the brunt of the climate change. The rural folks in India are already seeing rising crop failures, increasing poverty and frequent farmer suicides.

Both India and Pakistan are investing in green energy projects. The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Asian Development Bank are contributing a total $660 million to a $2.2 billion program to develop renewable energy projects in Pakistan.

Pakistan is now using domestically and exporting CNG kits to various countries including China, Brazil and Italy. Almost 2 million vehicles on the country's roads have dual fuel options with Suzuki having the highest in quantity. Here's a report from last year about India significantly lagging Pakistan in clean energy and CNG usage:

India is way behind Pakistan in terms of its gas pipeline network, with the neighboring country’s network stretching around 56,400 km against its 10,500 km, connecting only 20 cities compared to Pakistan’s 1,050, industry body Assocham said.

Pakistan’s pipeline density, at present is 1044 km/mmscmd (million metric standard cubic meter per day) per day compared to 116 km/mmscmd of India, Assocham said in its paper on gas sector "A Comparison between India and Pakistan".

The neighbouring country has created a 31,000 km distribution network to serve its domestic and commercial consumers in large locations, against the 11,000 km network that have so far been build in India to serve the needs of its consumers in limited pockets, the report said.

While Pakistan has nearly 1,600 CNG stations, India has 380. The gas throughput in Pakistan is 38 mmscmd per day as against 8.5 mmscmd gas in India.

The number of gas customers and vehicles running on CNG in Pakistan is about 19 lakh and 15.6 lakh respectively, while in India the number is 5.50 lakh and 4.60 lakh.

“The gas availability in Pakistan is undoubtedly quite large, compared to India but given the imports of gas and even its domestic availability in India, its pipeline network is extremely poor and the main reason attributed for the low and limited pipeline network in India is because this sector has been thoroughly regulated which has now been opened for competition,” Assocham president Venugopal Dhoot said.

The paper added that since the pipeline network in India does not reach out to most of the potential demand centres, a number of industrial projects, which would ideally run on gas, have to depend on much more costlier and more polluting alternative fuels.

“Thus the unmet gas demand in India is probably much higher than what is reported,” he said, adding India, “at present has only one major cross country pipeline in the form of Hizira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline and there is estimated to be considerable unmet demand even in the states serviced by this pipeline”.

With the increased availability of gas, the country needs to gear up quickly to meet the increased requirement of cross country as well as regional and local downstream gas distribution networks, he said. — PTI

A thin coat of coal dust covers everything from trees to houses in Korba, a coal mining town in central India which lies at the heart of the country’s struggle to balance economic growth with climate change concerns.

The air is heavy with smoke and dust spewing out of numerous mines and power plants in a region that powers hundreds of factories in the country’s industrial west and lights up millions of homes.

Although India has announced a new climate plan which identifies renewable energy such as solar power as key elements,

Coal remains the backbone of energy supply in a country where almost half the 1.1 billion population still has no electricity.

‘Coal-fired power will stay for the next 20-25 years at least,’ said R.D. Sonkar, chief engineer at one of Korba’s many thermal power stations.

‘Look at the high cost of solar and wind energy. Can we afford? Power from renewable energy will have to wait, I think.’

As the world meets in Copenhagen for crucial negotiations on a global pact to fight climate change, part of the debate will be on how developing countries such as India tackle the use of fossil fuel without hampering their growth.

India, the world’s fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter though still low on per-capita emissions, is under pressure to cut pollution to battle climate change while demand for power increases as its middle class clamours for more cars, TVs and housing.

India set a goal on Thursday for slowing the growth of its greenhouse gas emissions, saying it was willing to rein in its ‘carbon intensity’ — the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted per unit of economic output — by between 20 and 25 per cent by 2020, from 2005 levels.

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Pakistan Petroleum is seeking tenders to develop oil and gas resources in Pakistan, according to Oil Voice:

Exploration in these licenses is expected to convert conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources in to reserves. There are stratigraphic traps, tight gas, shale gas etc.----------Dera Ismail Khan Block Overview:The block lies in the Suleiman Foredeep with Sargodha High in the East, Khishor & Marwat Ranges in the North, Suleiman Foldbelt in the West and the Zindapir anticlinorium in the South. The development of Suleiman Foredeep is related with an uplift of the Suleiman Range, which is believed to be related to early and late Tertiary inversion of extensional and trans-tensional basins along the northwest margins of the Indian continental plate.-------------The block contains the stratigraphic play at Eocene and Paleocene levels. The Sembar Formation (Cretaceous) is the proven source rock in the nearby Dhodak & Salsabil Gas Fields, which lies in the Gas window in the West of D. I. Khan block. The primary reservoir targets are the Stratigraphic pinch out of Habib Rahi Limestone (Eocene) and the truncations of Lower Ranikot Formation (Paleocene). The Secondary target is the Pab Sandstone (Cretaceous). The seal is comprised of Intra Eocene Shales and the Shales of Chitarwata Formation (Oligocene) above the Base Oligocene unconformity. The Lower Ranikot and Pab Sandstone are the proven Gas/Condensate reservoir in the Dhodak and Salsabil Gas Fields.

The Kamiab-1 well (Amoco, 1974) drilled in the East encountered the significant Gas shows in the Lower Ranikot Formation.--------Sirani Block Overview:The Sembar Formation (Lower-Cretaceous) is the proven source rock in the area. Sands of Lower Goru Formation (Lower Cretaceous) are producing in nearby fields and have good reservoir quality. Shales of Upper Goru & intraformational shales provide the seal. Tilted Faults Blocks are expected in the Block.• Four leads identified on vintage seismic data. New seismic likely to yield more leads• Proximity to the producing Badin Oil fields to the west• Possibility of finding additional leads in southern marshy area where no seismic data has been acquired. Good shows encountered in some wells in the block• Nearby existing infrastructure• Low cost drilling operations as minimum problems are expected.• Early production through Extended Well Testing (EWT)

Naushahro Firoz Block Overview:The Naushahro Firoz block lies in a zone with a proven petroleum system from different reservoirs. The Zamzama gas condensate discovery (2.3 Tcf and 12 MMbo)) from Late Cretaceous Pab sandstone lies to the west and Sawan gas discovery (1.5 Tcf) from Lower Cretaceous Lower Goru sandstone lies to the East of the block. Sui Main Limestone (SML) of Eocene age is a proven reservoir in a number of discoveries (over 2 Tcf reserves) located in the north of the block. The reservoir quality of SML is also proven by the Sagyun-01 well drilled in the block and wells drilled in the surrounding area. One lead and a possibility of another lead identified at SML level on sparse vintage data.-----------Jungshahi Block Overview:The Jungshahi block lies to the east of two gas discoveries. An untested surface lead is separated from a gas field by a broad syncline. The Block is close to the Kitchen area. Untested surface anticlines are present in the block. Proven reservoir rocks of Paleocene and Cretaceous are present. Significant gas shows have been observed in Lower and Upper Ranikot formations in the wells drilled in the block. The Block is located close to an existing gas pipeline / infrastructure and commercial hub at Karachi. Early production is expected through EWT.

Pakistan improves incentives in new tight gas exploration policy, according to platts.com:

Pakistan has approved a new tight gas exploration policy with improved incentives as compared with its 2009 policy, to overcome the country's gas shortfall and attract foreign investment, a petroleum ministry official said Wednesday.

Under the new policy, exploration companies will be offered 40-50% higher prices for the gas compared with the $4.26/Btu price announced in Exploration and Production Policy 2009.

Companies which succeed in recovering gas from tight fields within two years will get 50% hike over the 2009 price and if it takes more time they will get only a 40% hike on the 2009 price.

Besides, the leases for the fields will now be for 40 years instead of 30 in the 2009 policy, the official said.

Even with the improved prices for the tight gas to be paid to the exploration companies, it is estimated that Pakistan will have to pay a maximum of $6.5/Btu for the gas compared with $12.3/Btu for gas imports.

"It [tight gas] is a more feasible option for the economy as even after giving additional incentives the cost of gas available will be less than imported gas and there will be no burden on the foreign exchange reserves for additional imports," Umer Bin Ayaz, a research analyst at JS Global Equities in Karachi, said.

Tight gas is typically stuck in very tight formations underground -- trapped in hard rock or in a sandstone or limestone formations that are unusually impermeable and non-porous.

As exploration is more difficult and the technology required more expensive, companies do not typically go in for exploration until given attractive incentives.

When Pakistan first started promoting compressed natural gas to the nation's motorists in the 1990s, the alternative to petrol seemed like a wonder fuel.Getting motorists to convert their cars to run on cleaner, cheaper gas would cure urban pollution and lower demand for the imported oil that was gobbling the country's foreign currency reserves.Car owners loved it and today 80% of all cars in Pakistan run off compressed natural gas (CNG), according to the Natural and Bio Gas Vehicle Association (NGVA), a European lobby group. Only Iran has more gas cars running on the road.But as the country struggles with a chronic gas shortage, Pakistan's 20-year CNG experiment seems to have been thrown into reverse gear.The government has introduced strict rationing. And there have even been discussions about shutting down thousands of gas stations for the whole of thewinter. "CNG is finished in Pakistan," said Owais Qureshi, the owner of a handful of once lucrative gas stations in Rawalpindi. "I'm not going to invest any more money in it."It has been years since he has been legally allowed to sell and install CNG conversion "kits": essentially large gas cylinders that are placed in the boot of a car to feed the engine. The system allows for cars to still be able to use petrol instead, if required.Although CNG is popular with an estimated 2.8m motorists in Pakistan, according to the NGVA, the increasingly scarce resource is also in demand from other sectors – including the country's factories and for domestic use."The government has been left with little choice but to put a lid on it because there simply isn't much gas left," said Farrukh Saleem, an economist. "It has been a massive policy failure because the government actively promoted CNG knowing full well that natural gas reserves would not last beyond 25 years."Successive governments heavily subsided CNG, ran schemes to encourage car conversions and dished out licences to political allies to build gas stations.But abandoned stations are now a common sight around the country. So too are queues of hundreds of motorists waiting to fill their cars on Wednesdays – the last remaining day of the week in many places on which CNG is legally allowed to be sold.This weekly ordeal for CNG users is compounded by a chronic lack of electricity, the other aspect of Pakistan's energy crisis. And because electricity is needed to run the gas compressors used by CNG stations car re-filling grinds to a halt during the many power cuts.---"All over the world countries are promoting CNG but in Pakistan they are killing it off," said Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, chairman of All Pakistan CNG Association."If we don't have enough gas we should import LNG [liquid natural gas]."Pakistan, however, has failed to build the infrastructure needed to import large amounts of gas from overseas. A legal challenge by Pakistan's activist supreme court killed off one scheme to build a massive LNG terminal in Karachi.The other lifeline for Pakistan's CNG supply is a controversial, multi-billion dollar pipeline to import natural gas from Iran. But Pakistan lacks the cash to build its half of the pipeline and the US has warned that completing the project would be in breach of US economic sanctions imposed on Iran.Even as natural gas is being touted elsewhere in the world as a great alternative to petrol, soon it may be a mere memory in Pakistan.Paracha fondly recalls the grand opening of the first CNG station in Karachi, which was built with foreign aid money. "It was the start of a revolution," he said. "Before CNG came you could not see the sky in the cities because the air was so polluted."

Popular posts from this blog

San Francisco based Cloudcade has announced it will invest $6 million to set up a game development studio in Lahore, Pakistan, according to Venturebeat.

The Lahore studio will be led by Ammar Zaeem, cofounder of Pakistan’s mobile game studio Caramel Tech which already has a team of 50 engineers.
The move is a big investment into Pakistan as a tech hub, and it shows how the game business is expanding around the globe.

Cloudcade:

Founded by Di Huang in 2013, Cloudcade is known for its popular multiplayer game "Shop Heroes" that pits players against each other in a competition to create the best shop they can. If a player can make a better store and perform more tasks than his or her rivals, he or she wins.

The game is available on the Apple iOS App Store, Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store, Amazon, Kongregate, and Facebook. It is now also supported on the Apple Watch.

43.5% of Indians, the highest percentage in the world, say they do not want to have a neighbor of a different race, according to a Washington Post report based on World's Values Survey.

About Pakistan, the report says that "although the country has a number of factors that coincide with racial intolerance – sectarian violence, its location in the least-tolerant region of the world, low economic and human development indices – only 6.5 percent of Pakistanis objected to a neighbor of a different race. This would appear to suggest Pakistanis are more racially tolerant than even the Germans or the Dutch".

Housing Discrimination:

It appears that there is a small but militant minority in Pakistan that is highly intolerant, but the vast majority of people are tolerant. My own experience as a former Karachi-ite is that there is little or no race or religion based housing segregation, the kind that is rampant in India where Muslims are not welcome in most Hindu-dominated neigh…

Pakistan's human development ranking plunged to 150 this year, down from 149 last year. It is worse than Bangladesh at 136, India at 130 and Nepal at 149. The decade of democracy under Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has produced the slowest annual growth rate in the last 30 years. The fastest growth in Pakistan human development was seen in 2000-2010, a decade dominated by President Musharraf's rule, according to the latest Human Development Report 2018.

Human Development in Pakistan:

UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) represents human progress in one indicator that combines information on people’s health, education and income.

Pakistan saw average annual HDI (Human Development Index) growth rate of 1.08% in 1990-2000, 1.57% in 2000-2010 and 0.95% in 2010-2017, according to Human Development Indices and Indicators 2018 Statistical Update. The fastest growth in Pakistan human development was seen in 2000-2010, a decade dominated by President M…

I am the Founder and President of PakAlumni Worldwide, a global social network for Pakistanis, South Asians and their friends. I also served as Chairman of the NEDians Convention 2007. In addition to being a South Asia watcher, an investor, business consultant and avid follower of the world financial markets, I have more than 25 years experience in the hi-tech industry. I have been on the faculties of Rutgers University and NED Engineering University and cofounded two high-tech startups, Cautella, Inc. and DynArray Corp and managed multi-million dollar P&Ls. I am a pioneer of the PC and mobile businesses and I have held senior management positions in hardware and software development of Intel’s microprocessor product line from 8086 to Pentium processors. My experience includes senior roles in marketing, engineering and business management. I was recognized as “Person of the Year” by PC Magazine for my contribution to 80386 program. I have an MS degree in Electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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